American Vanguard Corp. is reorganizing the sales & marketing function of its wholly owned subsidiary AMVAC Chemical Co.

Trevor Thorley, AMVAC’s chief operating officer, will be assuming direct responsibility for the organization’s sales and marketing efforts beginning July 1, 2009. He will continue his responsibilities as chief operating officer, which include technology, regulatory, manufacturing, and administrative functions reporting directly to him.

Chris Hildreth, AMVAC’s current sales leader, will resign effective June 30, 2009, but will continue to assist the company on specific projects in a consulting capacity.

“As American Vanguard continues its domestic and international growth we want to fully utilize all of our resources to achieve that objective,” said Eric Wintemute, American Vanguard’s chief executive officer. “A large part of that effort will revolve around customer focus and superior product management. We believe that Trevor’s strong background in these areas will allow him to drive our sales and marketing initiatives and create an even stronger organization.

“Chris has been an important contributor to the growth that we have achieved in recent years. During his six years as head of our sales organization, we have more than doubled our revenue base and established AMVAC as a leader in the North American crop protection business.”

“I inherit an experienced and effective organization and I plan to build on that foundation to raise AMVAC to the next level of service and support for our customers,” said Thorley. “We are well positioned in many promising segments of the market with our expanding product portfolio and a number of new initiatives. We will continue our growth in both domestic and international markets and in the strategically important non-crop business. We will provide our customers a comprehensive offering of value-added products, responsive service, and operational excellence. Our entire organization will be focused on and accountable to the interests and success of our customers.”

American Vanguard Corp. is a diversified specialty and agricultural products company that develops and markets products for crop protection and management, turf and ornamentals management, and public and animal health. It is included on the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes and the Standard & Poors 600 Index. To learn more about American Vanguard, visit www.american-vanguard.com.